Mountain Home, Arkansas’ Fun Mountain was a favorite among locals for its unique atmosphere and attractions. Known for its water slides and outdoor ski-ball, Fun Mountain became a frequent weekend hot spot for entire families in the area. Despite its apparent popularity and several testimonials recalling fond memories of the place, Fun Mountain struggled financially since its inception.
In 1976, construction on the “Amusement Center” was spearheaded by Kenneth Martin, a man from Mountain Home with a dream of bringing an outdoor family amusement park to the small Arkansas town. While it was received very well by the locals, the area was just too small to support such an ambitious endeavor; as a result, Fun Mountain closed and reopened at least three times between 1976 and 1999.
Today the main building is burned down leaving few remnants of its history behind. Many of the attractions are still there, though they are mostly decrepit and run down. The water slides are filled mostly with a brown, swamp-like water and the roots of the surrounding trees are beginning to climb down the walls of the pools. Much of the outlying area has been raided and much of the remaining buildings are covered in graffiti.
Without any plans to demolish or renovate Fun Mountain, the only one with a season pass to this amusement park is mother nature.
Article written by Wells Thompson – AAR staff
I left town in 1985 and it was only The Water Whip. Fun mountain must have opened after that. Rode my bike to that area last week and the water whip shed and slide was still there but it’s covered with trees and debris.
How would one go about finding this place?
Anyone else remember that dude that air brushed there? He was phenominal! He could airbrush a hamburger or hotdog on a wall that look so real. The stuff he airbrushed on T-shirt was out of this world.
Took a pic from ezrider mag and had him do a shirt for me
Is it for sale?
Never did get our paychecks when the owners skipped town.
Loved that place. Wish my kids had that now
Last time I was there was with you and the rest of our GAP X bunch!
Had one of the best water slides around!!
If memory serves, this is where a friend and I were asked either to stop playing bumper cars with our go-carts or leave
I had a blast here when I was a kid! I remember you could buy an arm band and ride whatever you wanted all day. I heard part of it burnt down years ago.
My older sister worked here and I got to spend a lot of time here durning my summers. I live a couple of miles from it now. I would love to be able to reopen it but I couldn’t imagine how much money and work that would take.
One of my first jobs was at Fun MTN
Mine as well. I was 16 and ran the bumper boats. The owners name, at that time, I believe was Carlos. Seems like around 1989 I worked there. It seemed to be thriving well.
Drove by today had a for sale sign on it
https://www.google.com
We stopped there a few times when we used to vacation in Mt. Home back in the 80s and 90s. I remember the water slide skinning up elbows and knees. Last time I was there me and my cousins rode the bigfoot power wheels.
Thanks for sharing.
HI
nice post !
I owned property just east of tit about a 1/4 mile. I heard there was a lawsuit against the owners because of an injury. Don't know how it turned out. I do know there was a bad fire that destroyed most of it. Sad to see it go.
are referring to Fun Mountain? Or, Dogpatch? This article is about Fun Mountain.
Yes, that comment is accurate. the main building was destroyed by fire, but we are not sure when…
I loved fun mountain as a kid!! I actually found this trying to pull up pictures to show my kids….I wish someone would re open it mountain home is a lot bigger now then it was then I bet it would do really good now ..I thought it did back then too though. Either way it’s sad to see after all the memories I have there as a child with my parents and sibling.
It opened in the 1980s. My folks owned the Woodlawn Court Motel that was formerly on the property. They sold it to the Fun Mountain developers.